


Cult Of Color

by Legal_Party



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Angst and Humor, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Canon-Typical Violence, Comfort, Drama, Everyone Has Issues, Everyone Needs A Hug, Homeworld (Steven Universe), Lesbian Character, Mental Instability, Original Character(s), Other, Past Abuse, Polyamory, Suicide Attempt
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-30
Updated: 2020-08-08
Packaged: 2021-02-27 07:15:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 20
Words: 18,276
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22033171
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Legal_Party/pseuds/Legal_Party
Summary: Steven never knew anything about the Gemstone stuck in him. It didn't do anything special, just glow every now and again. Everyone else thought he was a freak.One fateful night changed everything.
Relationships: Pink Diamond & Yellow Diamond (Steven Universe), Steven Universe & Yellow Diamond
Comments: 20
Kudos: 98





	1. A Cold Opening

**Author's Note:**

> planning a rewrite

Steven tried to remember what happened earlier. He remembers running out of the house before seeing something strange in the night sky. It was like a glowing object floating in the sky. It was getting closer and he tried to run away from it, but he suddenly froze in place. He doesn't remember what happened after that.

He was now in a strange room, with glossy blue walls and no exit. The floor he was lying on was cold. There didn’t seem to be any light-source, the room was just lit up. Steven tried to sit up, but a sore pain rushed through his body and made him fall back down. He took a look around and saw that his backpack was laying against the wall. He still had his shorts, sneakers, and star tank top on.

After a while, the sore pain faded. Steven finally sat up and started crying. He didn’t know where he was or what was going to happen to him. His crying was quickly interrupted by a hole that opened in the ceiling. It was too dark to see into and too high up to reach. Steven stood up and walked under it, trying to get a better look. Almost immediately, something landed on top of him. The hole closed immediately after, erasing the chance of escape.

Steven pushed the thing off of him and stood back up. It was a girl, about his size, yet she didn’t look right. Her skin was a light orange and her hair was square. She had a dark orange outfit on, with a yellow diamond on the front. She was also wearing dark goggles and had an orange gemstone sticking out of her cheek. She quickly stood up and started to yell at where the hole was.

“I’m not defective! I’m not! Please! I’m still useful!” She cried out, before silencing after noticing Steven.

“Hi, I’m Steven,” He nervously said.

“What’s a Steven?” She asked back.

“Me,” He answered, trying to think of a way to put this, “It’s my name, who I am. What is your name?”

“Ruby, Facet-58 Cut-4BC,” She said, well standing up straight. Steven had no clue what she just said.

“Um… How about Ruby?” 

She slowly approached him. “Does it matter? This is where Gems like us are sent to be fixed. We will have forgotten anything about ourselves.” She exclaimed as she gripped Steven’s tank top, before slowly sliding to the floor in distress.

“Hold on now,” Steven said as he put his hand on her shoulder, “Is that what you are? A Gem?”

“Yes! Is your gem cracked?! Have you forgotten who you are?!”

“No, I’m just a normal boy from Earth,” He said, before putting his hand over his chest, “Well… Almost normal.” He pulled his tank top down a little, showing off the yellow crystal embedded in his chest. 

“So you are a Gem, but I’ve never seen a gem like that,” Ruby said well taking a closer look at it.

“What are the Gems?” Steven asked, still unsure what they are.

“You really don’t remember anything, do ya?” She said, before taking a seat, “Gems are entities of power, hailing from the planet of Homeworld.”

“So you are an alien?!” Steven said excitedly, “That’s so cool!”

“Our gemstones are our cores, that project our physical bodies,” She continued, “We aren't organic, which makes your belief that you are human even more abnormal.”

“No!” Steven yelled with tears in his eyes, “I’m human! This thing in my chest has never done anything special!” He looked down, “All that this crystal has done for me is make everyone hate me.”

A loud blaring alarm rang through the room, causing the two to cover their ears. “Well… Then you’ll fit right in,” Ruby said, before the wall opened up and blinded both of them with light.

“Please step out of your chamber!” A voice commanded. Ruby and Steven closed their eyes and slowly walked out of the room.


	2. Welcome To Detention

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I actually have like five chapters already written, so I'll release them over the coarse of the next few day.

Steven stepped out of the room and into the bright light. He found himself in a large open room. A large platform on the other side, overlooked the whole room. There were tons of other people, many of them with different sizes and colors. “Are they Gems, as well?” He asked Ruby. She silently nodded back. Many of the Gems were crying or talking among themselves. A few were sitting, a few were standing, but they were all clearly waiting. Not all of them looked human or even humanoid. Ruby walked over to join the mass, with Steven closely following behind.

“What is this place?” He asked.

“Detention,” Ruby answered, without turning to face him, “Where Gems like us are sent to be ‘corrected’.” Steven’s face turned from confusion to concern. He felt trapped in a nightmare, the kind you can’t wake from. He just wanted to go home. Before he could dwell on it, he was lifted up off of the ground by his collar. He looked around and saw that a large Gem had picked him up. 

“Hey little pebble, we've never seen a Gem like you before,” The Gem said in a deep and joyful voice, “What kind are you?”

Steven was almost too nervous to answer. “I’m Steven,” He responded.

“Steven? What’s a Steven?”

“It’s my name,” He answered back, well trying to squirm out of their grip, “Can you please put me down?”

They obliged, and Steven was dropped onto the hard floor. He bashed his knee, which created a small bruise. He now saw the full body of the Gem who had picked him up, and they were bizarre to say the least. They were large and muscular, with very short hair. The bizarre part was that their body appeared to be split down the middle. One half of their body was a dark purple color, the other half was a light blue color. The gemstone on their forehead appeared to be two different gems fused together. This strange Gem gave Steven a thumbs-up and walked away.

Not long after, a voice blared over the speakers. “All Gems must form an inspection line, in ten rows!” After that was said, all the Gems stood up and formed lines. Steven followed Ruby’s lead and stood next to her. “Hold salute!” Most Gems crossed their arms into the shape of a diamond, the rest were unable to. Ruby elbowed Steven, trying to tell him to salute. He saluted, just in time for the inspection. A thin blue Gem appeared on the platform, with a holographic screen in front of her face. She appeared to have two arms that split into four by the elbow, but didn’t seem to have any hands. The wall under the platform opened up, with a few large Gems walking in and started the inspection. Steven closed his eyes, hoping that he would be ignored. He didn’t want to be here anymore. He just wanted to go home. 

“How did an organic get on board?” An aggressive voice said, right before Steven felt himself getting lifted up by his head. He opened his eyes to see a large orange Gem, with long white hair and a gem for a nose, had picked him up with one hand. “Permission to throw it out the airlock?” She yelled up to the blue gem above.

“No, you don’t understand!” Steven exclaimed, as he pulled his shirt down to reveal his gem, “I’m a Gem, see!”

“You don’t look like one.”

“Jasper!” The blue Gem yelled, suddenly appearing behind the large orange Gem, “It is impossible for the drones to abduct a non-Gem. This one must be convinced that she’s organic.”

Jasper dropped him and turned to face the blue Gem. “I don’t think we need that kind of Gem. I don’t think we need any of these failures.”

“That’s not your choice to make,” She smugly responded, “If you have a better idea, take it to your diamond.”

Jasper backed up, before walking away completely. Steven looked up at the blue Gem, who quickly smiled back. Upon closer inspection, he saw that she had small floating fingers at the ends of her arms. Steven smiled back, trying not to show how nervous he was. The blue Gem whistled at a larger Gem, causing the Gem to immediately walk over. 

“Be a dear and take this Gem to my Inner Analysis Room.”

“Right away, Sodalite,” She responded, before grabbing Steven by his arm and dragging him off. He had no idea what that was.


	3. What Are You?

Steven always hated doctor’s appointments. They were always so boring and slow, with very little for him to do well he waited. He felt like he was stuck in a doctor's appointment; but instead of a waiting room, he was stuck in a glass bubble. A dim red light had illuminated the inside of the bubble. The room outside was dark, with a small glowing security camera in the corner. The super nice Gem, Sodalite, was constantly pacing back and forth. She was checking multiple holographic screens, with walls of text written in an unknown language. Steven didn’t feel great, his stomach was aching and he was rather sleepy.

Sodalite peeked into the bubble, by phasing through the glass. Steven jolted back in shock. She scanned him with her eyes, before stepping into the bubble completely. She was much taller than him, so she leaned in to take a closer look at his gem. The gem was a yellow pyramid sticking straight out. Sodalite tilted her head in confusion.

“What kind of Gem are you?” She asked.

Steven paused for a moment before answering. “I don’t know.”

She lifted her head up. “Well that makes this a lot harder,” She said, before she phased out of the bubble. Steven pressed his hands onto the glass.

“What do you mean?” He asked, his voice getting slightly muffled.

“I’ve already scanned your gem, so I can see the code inside,” She said, pointing at the holo-screen, “But I can’t use any of this information if I don’t know the kind of gem.” Steven looked down at his gem and put his hand over it. “Has your gem done anything specific?”

“No,” He answered, “It just glows when I sleep.”

“Hmm. Gems don’t need sleep, so your physical is convinced of its organic nature.”

Sodalite started to mumble to herself, trying to put all the info together. Steven started crying, which caught her attention. “I don’t care about that! just want to go home!” He cried as he fell to his knees, completely breaking down. 

She stood there, unable to convince herself to speak. The tears had hit her non-existent heart. She calmly walked over to the security camera and pressed a glowing button, deactivating it. She then phased back into the bubble. 

“You’re from Earth right?” She asked.

“Yeah.”

“Listen, I can help you get back home.”

“You can?!” Steven exclaimed, with stars in his eyes. 

“There's someone on Earth that I would love to see again. The problem is that Earth is a forbidden zone. Only automatic drones are allowed anywhere close. I’ll need a lot of time to devise a plan, but it can be done.” 

“Thank you so much!” He cried, hugging her legs. She blushed, pushing him off. She phased back out and reactivated the security camera. 

“I’m afraid that you’ll have to go to the Detention Workspace. But as long as you stay out of trouble, I’ll be able to fill you in once the plan is complete.” 

Steven looked a little bummed out, but he was willing to wait for as long as it took. 


	4. Working Blues

It was a sight to behold. The Workspace was an absolutely gigantic room, with dozens of Gems repairing strange spaceships and small drones. Each spacecraft was placed in a grid, with the grid spread across the entire room. Sodalite had brought Steven in, but she refused to step inside. As soon as Steven stepped in, a thin yellow glow surrounded him.

“You’ll have to stay here for a little while, just stay out of trouble and don’t tell anyone.” Sodalite said, before she rushed off. Steven was now on his own. His stomach started to rumble, so he took a seat and pulled an apple out of his backpack. It felt so nice to finally eat something. 

His joy was short lived, as he saw the large gem-nosed Jasper. She was standing guard near a large group of Gems. Steven quickly hid behind a small table. The table was lined with many bizarre tools, all perfectly sorted into different categories. Now Steven had one mental note, _stay any from the nose_.

“What are you doing here?” A familiar voice asked from behind him. He jolted around in surprise, only to see that it was Ruby. She also had the yellow glow around her. 

“Oh, it’s you.”

“I thought you would be shattered for sure.” She said under her breath. Steven was unsure what that meant.

“Nope, nothing wrong with Steven.” He nervously replied.

“Then why are you here?”

He started to sweat. “I meant, nothing is right with Steven.” He said with an awkward smile. Ruby wasn’t smiling back. “So how are you doing?” He asked, trying to change the subject.

“Fine,” She said, before grabbing his hand and pulling him towards a broken drone, “Need some help with this.”

He stared at the drone, a feeling of dread crawling up his spine. Maybe it was the same drone that grabbed him. 

“Ok, I help you,” He said, “But first, you have to explain what this place is.” 

An annoyed look spread across her face. “Ugh, fine,” She said through gritted teeth. Steven took a seat in front of her. “So each Gem has a purpose that they were made for; Rubies are guards, Pearls are servants, Peridots are technicians, etc. If a Gem can’t/won’t perform their duty, they will be harvested and replaced.”

“Ok?”

“But since Homeworld can’t afford to make to make a planets worth of Gems, The Detention was created to recycle defective Gems, known as Off Colors. They tamper and torture you until you fit.”

Steven stood up. “That’s awful!”

“But it’s true! But in the meantime, they make us do technical labor,” She explained, “I’m here because orange is apparently an unacceptable color for a Ruby.”

“Who would do this?!” He asked.

“Sodalite,” She answered, “She runs this place and has direct control under Yellow Diamond.”

Steven’s eyes widened. “I don’t believe you! She was so nice to me! She saved me from Jasper!” 

“Oh she’s kind on the outside, but don’t trust a word she says,” She said, “She’ll shatter you the first chance she gets.”

“No, I hav-” He stopped himself. He wasn’t supposed to talk about his meeting with Sodalite. “Your lying!” He shouted, stomping his foot down. As he did, a strange energy appeared beneath his foot. The energy quickly spread out, disappearing into the area around him. It buzzed when it hit him and Ruby, causing the yellow glow to disappear. 

Ruby looked down at her hands in surprise. “You… Deactivated the destabilization field.”

“I did?” He asked, before changing his tone, “I mean, I did!” 

A huge smile grew across her face. She grabbed his arm and concentrated. Before Steven could react, he blinked his eyes and found himself in a strange place. It looked like The Workspace, except it was dark and empty. No ships, no drones, no Gems, nothing. 

“No time to explain, let’s go!” Ruby commanded, before she started to run at a ridiculously pace, practically dragging Steven behind her. She rushed into a nearby hallway. Her eyes were darting around, before spotting a nearby container. She tossed Steven in, before jumping in herself. 

The environment around them started to fade out, like static on TV, before completely fading away. The sudden light blinded Steven, but his eyes quickly adjusted to his new surroundings. Ruby jumped out first, Steven awkwardly climbed out second. They weren’t in the hallway anymore, instead they appeared to be in some kind of cargo bay. It felt like the floor was vibrating, but it didn’t feel like an earthquake. 

Ruby rushed passed the other containers and to a locked doorway. Steven followed, still unsure about what was happening. Before he could say anything, Ruby seemed to pop out of existence. Only a second later, the door opened and she was standing on the other side. Once again, she rushed off, leaving Steven behind. He ran after her again, trying to get a question out. 

When he finally reached her again, he froze in place. Ruby had vanished again and he was left with an anger green Gem staring him down. This Gem appeared to be the current pilot of this spacecraft. She was pointing a glowing finger at him; she seemed to have the same floating fingers as Sodalite. 

“What are you clods doing on my-” 

Before she could finish, Ruby appeared behind her and stabbed a mini-pickaxe into her back. She pulled it back out; and with a quick ‘poof’ sound, the green Gem was gone. Her gemstone remained, which fell to the floor alongside a pile of robotic limbs. 

“WHAT WAS THAT?!” Steven shouted; he was so confused. “WHAT JUST HAPPENED?! WHERE AM I?!”

“Ok, ok, calm down,” Ruby calmly explained, “It’s just my power. I was never supposed to have this power; it’s the real reason I was sent to The Detention. I can temporarily jump into the future. The container we jumped into just happened to be on this ship in the present.” 

“Why didn’t you do that earlier?”

“The destabilization field would have poofed me if I tried.”

“Dude, that’s awesome!”

“No, I’m Ruby,” She said, before she hopped onto the chair and put her hands on the controls. 

“Um… Where are we going?” He asked.

“To my place,” She answered with a smile, “We’ll be there before Sodalite even noticed we left.”

Steven looked down at robotic limbs, thinking about what Sodalite would do if she saw he was gone. Would she be worried? Would she be angry with Ruby? Or was she really an evil Gem? 


	5. Small Home Far Away From Home

Once again, Steven woke up on the cold floor. He had passed out from exhaustion, but Ruby had moved him to a private room well he was out cool. He quickly sat up in a panic, only to see that his backpack was resting against a nearby wall. He sighed in relief and took a look at his surroundings. The room was decorated with beautiful pink flowers, with streams of water built into the floor. There was a small doorway leading outside, but Steven wasn’t thinking of leaving just yet. 

He stood up and walked over to the center of the room; where a single purple book sat on a pedestal. He picked the book up, it was surprisingly light and cold. The cover had something written in the Gem language, but Steven still couldn’t read it.

“Steven, you’re moving again!” A familiar voice said from behind him. Steven quickly pleased the book back onto the pedestal. He turned around and saw Ruby standing in the doorway, holding some kind of watering can. “I was kinda scared because you just fell and-”

“Oh, don’t worry,” He interrupted, “I just got really tired and fainted.” 

“Well, it’s just you didn’t poof, so I thought you were pretending.”

Steven’s eye glanced past her and saw the area outside. It was like a temple or garden, with tons of pretty flowers and stone pillars. The sky was dark with thousands of stars littered about. He walked over to get a closer look. “What is this place?”

“Oh, this is my home,” Ruby answered simply, “I found it well on the run. It had been abandoned long ago by Pink Diamond, the owner. She was the only Gem who knew about it.” She walked over to a nearby patch of flowers and started to water them. Steven stepped out and walked over to her. “I take care of this place now. I even re-purposed Homeworld ships to hold more flowers.”

“How long have you been here?”

Ruby paused before answering. “About four thousand years.”

Steven almost fell over in shock. “ **Four thousand?!** But that’s-”

“Oh hush up,” She interrupted, “We’re all immortal anyways.”

“Wait, we- I mean you are?!” 

“Yep, and you are to. Were you formed yesterday?”

Steven looked away. “Sorry,” He said, “I’m still wrapping my head around this whole ‘I’m an immortal, magic rock from space’ thing. I’ve spent my entire life on Earth.” Stepping back, something else caught his eye. It was standing in the center of the garden, facing a nearby stairway. It was clearly a Gem, since their body was a light pink, but they were standing completely still. Ruby turned and saw that Steven was starring. “Who’s-”

“Nobody!” Ruby interrupted, well gripping his hand and guiding him away, “There’s something cool I want to show you!”

Steven wanted to ask again, but he was quickly dragged into one of the re-purposed ships. The interior was mostly empty, with the only thing of note being a strange mechanism in the center. It was like an hourglass with many different tubes creating a maze of sand. The sand appeared to be falling upwards. There was also a large wheel on the side; so that when all the sand reaches the top, it will flip over.

“This is the time engine,” Ruby explained, proud to show it off, “It’s the source of my time jumping powers.” She paused, seeing that Steven wasn’t sharing her enthusiasm. “Pretty cool, right?” She asked, an awkward smile spreading across her face. Her eyes fell to the floor as she sighed. “Look… That Gem out there said she was waiting from her Diamonds return. She’s been there ever since I set up shop. I-I tried to talk to her, but just wouldn’t listen. And I don’t want you talking to her.”

Steven looked back, puzzled by what she said. “How come?” 

“Pink Diamond is never coming back,” She explained, “But if I told her that, she would have a breakdown. Just, leave her be; pretend she’s not there.”

Ruby stepped back out, leaving Steven alone. Ruby had lied; she didn’t tell the full story. Steven wanted a full answer. He didn’t want to be left in the dark, like the Gem outside.


	6. Weapon Lesson

Steven spent his morning sorting through his things. His backpack had extra clothes inside, as well as snacks and a toothbrush. He had two books stuffed in the back. But after everything that has happened, he couldn’t for the life of him remember why he packed his bag.

But, this was no time for sitting around. He took his used clothes off and pulled out a new pair of pants and tank top. Funnily enough, these clean clothes were the exact same as the used ones. He put his new clothes on and ran his old clothes through the water. Then he laid them flat on the ground to dry. As he did that, his eyes shifted back to the Gem book. _Why did it have a room all to itself?_

He shook his head. Ruby told him to stop asking so many questions. Just as he thought about her, he saw her standing in the doorway. 

“Oh, good morning!” Steven said with a smile, trying to keep his own spirit up. 

“Come outside,” She coldly responded, “I want to see your weapon.” Ruby walked back out. Steven quickly stood up and rushed after her.

“Hold on, my what?” He asked, catching up with her in the middle of the garden.

“Your weapon. Come now, almost every Gem has one. For example...” She put her hand over her gem. A second later, her gem started to glow as she pulled a pickaxe out. “This is my weapon.”

Steven put his hand over his gem. “How d-”

“Just imagine that you are in danger, then focus on summoning something to defend yourself.”

Steven closed his eyes, trying to imagine the most intimidating Gem. He thought of Jasper, back when she picked him up. He started to feel a small amount of heat radiating from his gem. A small handle slowly formed. As soon as he felt it in his hand, he pulled it out as fast as he could. He opened his eyes, ready to see what he has. 

“It’s...” Ruby paused for a moment. “It’s a baton.” 

Indeed it was. A short baton, with a small crystal at the top. He looked down in disappointment.

“Don’t look so blue,” Ruby said, before de-summoning her pickaxe, “Here.” She lifted her arms into a defensive stance. “Hit me as hard as you can!” 

“I don’t kno-”

“Come on, I’m just trying to see what you can do,” She interrupted.

“I get that,” Steven said, before sitting down, “I just don’t think I’m cut for battle. This is more like a defensive tool. You pickaxe is more intimidating, for Pete’s sake!” 

“Who’s Pete? Never mind, I’m not going to force combat training on you, just one hit.” 

“Ok,” he said, well holding his baton over his head, “Here goes nothing!” He stood up and swung sideways towards Ruby. As soon as the end of the baton made contact, Ruby was flung to the side at high speeds. Way faster than he was swinging. She collided with a nearby pillar, before falling to the ground. 

Immediately after, Steven ran over to see if she was okay. She awkwardly stood up, almost falling back down. 

“I think you’ll be fine,” She said, giving a thumbs up. Steven helped brush some of the dust off. “I’ve never seen a weapon do that before. I can’t think of a Gem with a weapon like yours.” 

“Guess that makes me pretty special, huh?” He joked, smiling back at her.

Ruby grabbed his shoulder. “Special like a star!” A grin grew from ear to ear on her face. “There isn’t anything in the universe better than being unique!” 

A look of mild sadness filled his face. “At least you think so.”


	7. Reading Hours

Steven sat in front of the Time Engine, curious about its origin. He couldn't ask Ruby; she had business elsewhere and left him alone in the garden. He sat there, trying to think of the best way to figure this out. Then it clicked, he should check the book. He quickly stood up and ran to the other ship, making sure to avoid staring at the Gem at the center of the garden. He didn’t want to extend his curiosity any farther, Ruby had told him to ignore her.

He quickly took the book off of its pedestal and opened it to its first page. As soon as it opened, a blinding purple light shone from the page. He dropped the book, using his hands to shield his eyes. He peeked through his fingers, seeing the book lying open on the floor. The purple light had dimmed down, and a strange ghostly figure floated above the book. They were partly translucent, wearing a dark purple cloak. Their eyes were large, with light purple light radiating out. Their head was in the shape of a teardrop. They started to look all around the room, before her eyes became fixed on Steven.

“You… Freed me,” The figure whispered in a ghastly tone.

“I guess I did.”

The figure floated closer. “Why have you freed me?”

“I didn’t know, I was just curious.” Steven explained, trying to keep his head down. 

“Please… Just put me back in,” They said, putting one ghostly hand on his shoulder, “I don’t deserve to be free. I-”

“Whoa, slow down,” Steven said, backing up a little, “Who are you?”

They projected an image of the book. “I am Archive. I contain a massive database, a catalog of the known history of Homeworld.” They explained, their eyes turning yellow well they spoke.

“Alright, can you help me with something?”

“Right away,” They answered, before their eyes changed back. “NO!” They shouted, before floating into the corner of the room. They curled up, as tears flowed from their eyes.

Steven stepped closer. “Are you ok?” He asked.

Archive immediately stood up. “Apologies,” They calmly said, their eyes yellow again, “My gem is defective. A secondary personality formed, but they only come out when I’m not in use. Make sure to close me when you’re done asking me questions.”

“Um…” Steven was incredibly confused. Their eyes changed back to purple, the tears returning. 

“Stop asking questions!” They said, curling up again, “Just leave me alone.” Steven picked the book up. Archive lifted their head. “Wait! Don’t close me yet! Let me be free for a day. After that, put me back in. Please!”

He thought for a second, trying to think of a response. He placed one hand on their shoulder. “Ok, I’ll let you be free,” He told them, giving them direct eye contact, “If you answer two questions.”

“Yes ma'am!” They immediately responded, before floating upright, “I’ll let Archive answer your questions.” 

“Oh, You have a different name.”

“Yes, I’m Charoite and they are Archive.”

He took a moment to think, trying to figure out what he should ask first. His second question was going to be about the Time Engine. 

“What do you know about Sodalite?” He asked, as it had been bugging him for awhile, “You know, the blue Gem with four arms.” 

Archive took the wheel, with tears filling their yellow eyes. They took a moment to wipe the tears away. “Apologizes, but we haven’t heard that name in a long time,” They explained, “That Sodalite is our original writer.”

“Ok, wow!” He said in surprise.

“She was the leader of the Cult of Color. The Cult of Color was formed during the war for Earth. They were a group of five off colors Gems, who were tasked with thinking like the Crystal Gem rebels. The rebels were too unpredictable, so Yellow Diamond pick the five out because they could understand the rebels.” They explained, well projecting an image of the five members. The image of Sodalite lacked the floating fingers that she currently had, her arms ended in simple stumps. “Despite her lacking features, she was a fantastic writer and strategist. However, I lack the knowledge of her current status, because the Cult of Color was disbanded after the war for Earth.”

“There was a war on Earth? How did this happen? Is that why I was on Earth?” Steven asked at a rapid fire pace. He quickly covered his mouth when he realized that he had asked a second question.

Archive projected a new image. It was of a tall Gem; with a pink and white color scheme. Their hair was light and puffy, and they had an upside down diamond for a gem. Archive paused before speaking, with fear in their eyes. “It started about 5,750 years ago, when the glorious Pink Diamond was shattered by one of her own subordinates. The rebel, Rose Quartz, did this in order to prevent the colonization of Earth. After years of fighting, Homeworld was forced to unleash a massive destabilization ray and abandon the Earth. Pink’s death had split Homeworld, even after the war.”

Steven felt his blood turn to ice. So many things just hit him, and now he was just sucker punched in the gut. Shattering equals death, and the Gem outside was waiting for Pink Diamond, then she would be waiting forever. He had to tell her. Charoite took the wheel, before quickly floating outside. They seemed to be overjoyed about being free for a day. Steven wished he could be that happy right now.


	8. Spinel

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last chapter I wrote ahead of time. Next chapter won't be tomorrow, it will be out when ever it's done.  
> Thanks for reading, love you all.

Steven didn’t know how to start. He was pacing back and forth, trying to figure out how he should say this. He didn’t have all day, since Ruby wasn’t going to be out forever. She had to know, but how could he soften it? He wasn’t even sure where to start. After a quick deep breath, he walked over to the pink Gem. She hadn't even noticed that he was standing only a few feet away the entire time. He stepped in front of her. She didn’t even flinch when he did. It took about a minute for her to react; she looked right at him.

“Um... Hi?” He awkwardly asked. She didn’t say a word. “I’m Steven. What’s your name?” Still nothing. He turned away, ready to walk away.

“Spinel,” The Gem finally spoke, which spooked Steven a little.

“Spinel… There’s something I need to tell you.”

“Just lea-”

“Pink isn’t coming back!” He interrupted.

Spinel gripped her gem. She turned her head away, quietly laughing to herself. “Ha ha, that’s the funniest joke I've ever heard.” Steven stepped a little closer. “You’re not laughing…” She gained a worried look. “Are you… Not joking?”

“Pink Diamond was shattered thousands of years ago,” He bluntly explained, not trying to sugar coat it, “Stop waiting for her to return.”

Spinel looked like she had seen a ghost. She started to cry her eyes out; falling to her knees. She began to slam her fist into her gem repeatedly. Over and over and over and over again. Steven grabbed her arms, trying to stop her from hurting herself. Her arms suddenly grew longer and her hands larger, letting the pink Gem push him back. Steven managed to avoid sliding back too far.

“Spinel!” He yelled, “Stop!”

“Why?” She asked through her tears, “She’s gone! What am I supposed to do? I’m the only loser now! The only reason I was made is gone!” She slammed her fists into the ground, before grabbing a sharp piece stone. She put it against her gem. “Why should I exist anymore?!” 

“No!” He shouted. Right before Spinel could stabbed her gem, a yellow energy jumped out of Steven's hand. It quickly spread across Spinel’s body, poofing her. Her heart-shaped gem fell to the ground. Steven picked up her gem. Charoite floated over, curious about what had happened.

“Who was that?” They asked.

“I’m not sure,” Steven answered, looking down at her gem, “Let me ask Archive.”

They backed up. “B-but you promised!”

“I need to know,” He said, “Look… If you let me ask, you can be free forever.”

They gasped. “Wh-why would you let me-”

“I’m not from Homeworld. I’m from Earth. I don’t own you, do what you want.”

They started to blush, with small tears forming under their eyes. They buried their face into their hands.

“Are you… Ok?”

“Sorry,” Archive said, “Your speech is reminiscent of Sodalite. She never treated us like a tool. She said we were, ‘A beautiful piece of art’ and ‘Free to be who you wanted to be’.”

This put a smile on his face. “Well you’re here, what kind of Gem is a Spinel?”

“ _Sniff_ … Glad you asked,” They said, before projecting an image of a Spinel, “Spinels are Gems with incredible shape-shifting abilities, far more powerful than any other Gem. There are very few, since it takes a lot of raw mass to make one. They act as jesters for high-ranking Gems.” They pointed at a nearby moon. It was more like the skeleton of a moon, since it was entirely hollow and broken into many different pieces. “That moon was likely used to make that Spinel.” 

The heart-shaped gem started to glow and float up. Well her body was forming, her gem flipped upside down. Her hair was now up in two spiky pigtails; her whole body was now in different shades of magenta. Her once round boots were now pointy knee-high boots. She fully formed, stretching her new body out. Steven flinched upon seeing her eyes; with three black lines across her eyes.

She stared at Steven. “Say Steven, do ya happen to know who shattered Pink?” She asked, her voice being slightly lower pitched. Steven kept his mouth shut, assuming that she didn’t have the best intentions.

“Pink Diamond was shattered by Rose Quartz, the leader of the rebellion.” Archive answered.

Spinel hopped over to the purple phantom. “And where is ‘Rose Quartz’?”

“Archive… Shut up...”

“Her last known location was on Earth,” They said, well projecting an image of the blue planet, “Her current status is unknown.”

“Let's pay her a visit.”


	9. Kid In A Candy Store

“What did you do?” Ruby shouted.

“Well...” He paused, “I freed Charoite and Archive, I did what you told me not to do, and now they are planning on traveling all the way to Earth.” 

Ruby sighed, looking over at the other Gems. “And why are you two going to Earth?”

“Three actually,” Archive chimed in, “As for your question: Steven is from Earth, Spinel wants to take brutal vengeance, and we just want to sight-see.” 

“And how do you plan on getting to Earth?” She asked.

“Well w-”

“ **Quiet!** ” She shouted, forcing Archive out of the driver's seat, “The warp pad is short-ranged and there is no way I’m letting you use my ship!”

Spinel had already wandered off, impatiently waiting at the warp-pad. Ruby glanced over at her; Spinel took notice and stuck her tongue out. A second later, Ruby grabbed Steven’s hand and dragged him into one of the ships. 

“Come on Ruby,” Steven said, “Why don’t you come with us?”

“Why would I do that?” She asked back, “I would just end up getting captured again!”

Steven put a hand on her shoulder. “Listen, there’s no way I’m spending the rest of my life in this garden. One Gem already went through that. And I don’t think you want to be alone here.”

She frowned. “But I have to keep an eye on the time engine.”

“It’s not going anywhere, nobody knows about this place,” He said, well moving out the door, “I’ll give you some time to decide.”

Ruby appeared in the doorway. “Wait!”

“What is it?”

“Can you tell Spinel that I’m sorry...” She covered her mouth with her hand, “Tell her I’m sorry for my cowardice. I couldn’t tell her the truth and I just… Let her stand there.” 

“I will,” He said, giving her a thumbs ups.

Ruby hugged him. “Thank you so much.”

“No prob Bob.”

“Who’s Bob?”

Steven walked out, and made his way over to the warp pad. Spinel was standing on it, tapping her foot impatiently. Charoite was busy staring at some flowers, so it was just Spinel. Steven stepped onto the platform.

“Hey, Um...” He stuttered, as Spinel shot him a mean look, “I just wanted to let you know that...” He paused for a second.

“Well?” She impatiently asked, “We’re waiting?”

He gulped. “Ruby is sorry for not telling you about Pink Diamond.” He blurted out at lighting speed. Spinel stared at him in disbelief, before a wide and slightly psychotic smile spread across her face. She grabbed his hand and pointed her other hand towards the sky.

They were surrounded by a massive pillar of light, momentarily lifting them off the ground. The pillar disappeared after a few seconds, leaving Steven and Spinel inside a strange cave. Torches carrying pink fire lined the cave walls. One of the walls was completely flat and reflective, unlike the rest of the rocky walls. At the center of this wall was a small pink circle. Before Steven could say anything, Spinel quickly ran to the far wall. He followed, walking slower to avoid tripping on anything. 

“Hey!” Spinel yelled, as Steven walked up, “Want to see something cool?!” Before he could answer, she grew her leg and pressed her gem against the pink circle. The circle illuminated, causing the wall shaking and glow. She shrunk back down to Steven’s level. The wall opened like a door.

A wave of dust rushed over him, choking him. He broke out coughing, constantly blinking to get the dust out. When he looked up, his eyes lit up with intrigue. It was a massive armory, with several different kinds of weapons on display. Swords, spears, shields, etc. At the center of the was a large and intimidating device. It was similar to a syringe, but with three legs and a bubbling pink liquid inside. 

“This is Pink’s old armory,” She said, trying her hardest not to cry, “She showed me everything in here. I want to take something with me.” 

Steven gave her a concerned “Spinel… I’m not sure-”

“Oh hey!” Spinel quickly rushed over to the device in the center. “This is an injector. Imagine the look on Rose’s face when I impale her with it.”

“Spinel. I don’t-”

  
“And this is… Um...” Spinel started to sweat a little, her eyes darting around the room. She glided over to a small rod-like device. “This is a rejuvenator. It makes a Gem forget everything. I could erase her from existence, then crush her under my shoe.”

“I think we-”

“Hey look at this-”

“ **Spinel!** ” He interrupted, stomping his foot in rage. Yellow energy spread from his foot, colliding with Spinel’s body. She flinched, the energy giving her a jolt. She stopped in her tracks and turned to face him. Her smile had vanished from her face. “We are leaving right now!”

“Why?”

“This doesn't sound like revenge for Pink. This is sadism, Spinel. You are not going to Earth and shattering her!”

Tears started to fall from her. “Why not?!” She yelled, clutching her gem in one hand.

“What if she had a Spinel waiting for her? You shatter her, then she would try and shatter you,” He explained, “You would be her Rose. A murder, who doesn’t deserve to live.” 

Spinel couldn’t move, she couldn’t justify herself anymore. She stretched her arms out and gave him a hug, slightly crushing him. He patted her on the back, not really able to comfort her any other way. Spinel started to scream out in sadness. 

“Come on, Spinel,” He said, despite his lack of air, “Let’s go back to the garden.”

She wiped the tears off her face. “Ya, let’s leave.” They slowly walked back to the warp pad.


	10. Traveling Without Moving

Everyone was waiting for Ruby’s answer. Steven and Spinel were resting in front of the ship. Steven was using his backpack as a pillow, letting him get a quick nap in. Spinel was sitting cross legged next to him. Archive’s book was already inside the ship, Charoite floating outside the hull. 

The ship’s door opened, Ruby stepping out. Everyone, minus Steven who was still sleeping, grouped up. Spinel stretched her foot out and gave him a light kick, which instantly woke him. He blinked for a moment, before standing up. 

“Alright, I have decided to fly you to Earth,” She finally answered. This brought a smile to everyone’s face, especially Steven’s face.

“Woo hoo!” He gave her a big hug. She quickly pushed him back, blushing slightly. She still wasn’t used to getting affection from anyone. So, she just presses one hand against the ship and opened the door. 

In a flash, Spinel had rushed inside. Steven followed behind, Charoite the last of the three to enter. Ruby paused for a moment, still as stone. She looked back at the garden. Her garden.  _ Why did I care for this place?  _ The thought snuck up on her, even though she had asked it before. She could have taken the Time Engine and gone to the edge of the universe. She didn’t need to care for the flowers, she could’ve let them wither. 

She snapped back to reality, throwing the question away and walking inside. A warm feeling of joy filled her upon seeing the others. They were running about the bridge, staring at the blinking lights of the controls. She took a seat in the captain's chair, placed in the center. It was a rather simple ship, with a bridge above and passenger rooms below.

“I hope you know, this is a one way trip,” Ruby told the others.

“How come?” Charoite asked, looking the most confused out of all of them. 

“I’ll be dropping you off, since I’ll have to return to this place,” She explained. Charoite started to frantically search the room for something, turning their head every which way. “Don’t worry, your book is safe in your room.” Ruby interacted with holo-screen in front of her, creating a downward stairway at the back of the room. Charoite slowly floated down to their room, not followed by Steven nor Spinel. “You two should go to your rooms, you don’t want to be up here when we hit light speed.” Ruby directed. 

Steven took his bag and went downstairs. Spinel kept on staring at Ruby, out of both contempt and curiosity. In an attempt to ignore her, Ruby powered the engines. The whole ship started to shake, before lifting off the ground. She started to power the FTL drive, assuming that the magenta Gem had gone to her room. A simple glance to the side proved otherwise. 

“Are you crazy!” She yelled, as the ship slowly accelerated forwards. Spinel momentarily lost her footing, stumbling back a bit. Her arm stretched out, gripping to the side of the chair.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” She asked, her voice devoid of emotion. Her body started to be pulled back. A bar formed, locking Ruby in her chair.

“You need to get out of here!” Ruby screamed out, her words not reaching Spinel’s ears. It was getting faster, and she found it harder to keep her balance. Ruby needed to act now, only thirty seconds till they hit FTL. Acting out of instinct, she jumped into the future. The bar was gone in the future, so she jumped out of her chair and ran to where Spinel was. As her power wore off, she grabbed the stubborn Gem’s hand and quickly pulled her below deck. 

The FTL drive activated, so now they needed to get to one of the passenger rooms. The FTL was distorting their bodies, making Ruby feel like she was being ripped in half. Spinel’s body was breaking apart, piece by piece. Neither of them were capable of moving down the stairs. A subtle shift in direction pinned the two to the wall. 

In their discombobulated state, neither were capable of moving. Spinel’s face landed right in front of Ruby’s face. Her dark goggles had shattered, revealing a single large eye on her citrus face.

“I may never get the chance to say this again,” Ruby said, barely able to say anything, “I didn’t tell you because I was worried you would hurt yourself!” She was silenced by the intense feeling of pressure on her gem. They were going to break if they didn’t act now.

“Tried to, but Steven stopped me,” Spinel explained, well stretching her legs down the stairs. She used all of her strength to grab Ruby with both hands. “Guess you couldn’t stop me if I tried, huh?” Her legs stretch out farther, before moving into an open room to the side. “But I’m not mad. In fact, it’s kinda funny. He did, what you had failed to do over the course of thousands of years, in a minute.” 

Using her elastic legs, she pulled her body along the path she made for herself. She pulled Ruby behind her, into one of the nearby rooms. These rooms were properly shielded from the FTL, so their forms started to repair themselves. The rooms were completely empty, but they did have benches. 

Spinel was the first to stand, only to see Steven in the room across. He was lying on his back, clutching his stomach. His painful groans were barely audible. Acting quickly, Ruby summoned up a new pair of goggles to cover her eye. Now that she could move again, she jumped into the future and ran back to the captain’s chair. As soon as she faded back into the present, she immediately shut off the FTL drive. The ship started to slowly decelerate, before coming to a crashing stop. Ruby was flung from the chair and collided with the display. Upon this forced closer look, she realized that they had collided with an asteroid.

“Captain, you might want to see this!” Spinel yelled from below deck, with a level of concern in her voice.


	11. Spinel Vs. The Speed King

Everyone had crowded into the room he was in. He was paler than normal, clutching his stomach and unable to stand. Charoite was leaning over him, producing a beam from their eyes that scanned his gem. It peered into every part of it, attempting to match it with all known gem types. Spinel stood the farthest from him, biting her nails and tapping her foot. Ruby was inspecting the room, checking for any interior damage after the crash. The ship was forcibly parked on the asteroid, so she had time to do this.

The purple phantom finished their scan and floated upright. Their eyes were wide, their ghostly body shaking. They put both hands over their mouth, preventing themselves from speaking. 

“Is he going to be alright?” Spinel asked, her voice filled with fear. 

Archive took the wheel, but refused to answer. They actively forced their mouth shut with their hands. 

“Is Steven going to be alright?!” She raised her voice, making sure she was clear. Her hands gripped her gem, her eyes holding back tears.

“Steven does not exist,” They blurted out, before forcing their mouth shut once again. 

Their statement grabbed Ruby’s attention. “What do you mean?”

“Steven does not exist.” They repeated, unable to stop themselves.

Spinel stretched her arm out and grabbed Archive by the neck. Tears actively flowed from her. Her other hand grew in size, Spinel lifting it above their head. “Tell me he’s okay! Say it!” 

“Steven does no-” Charoite took the wheel, staring straight ahead, then towards the hall. “Someone is clos-” 

They vanished in an instant, with the sound of metallic footsteps being heard from the other room. Ruby future jumped into the other room, only to find that the book was gone with no sign of an intruder. Before she could investigate further, her neck was forcefully twisted around. Without even getting a glimpse of the enemy, she was poofed. 

Spinel was trying to get Steven on his feet, until the sound of grinding metal alerted her. She hosted him up and ran for the stairs. A quick sideways glance revealed the intruder, wearing rough brown rags and a long red scarf. They were unnaturally tall and they appeared to be wearing full body, metal armor. None of the body under the armor was visible. Dozens of Gem weapons were strapped to their back, looking like it would weigh them down. They held Ruby’s gem in one hand; Charoite’s book was laying on the floor behind them. 

Spinel dashed up to the bridge, trying not to panic. She placed Steven in the captain’s chair. He was mumbling to himself, barely able to keep his eyes open. Spinel dashed around the bridge, trying to find something that could help. The sound of metallic footsteps stopped her dead. She turned to see that the intruder was already upstairs.

“Wow, I found myself a real goldmine,” They said, their voice rough and metallic. A chill ran down her spine when they spoke. “Never thought I’d find a Spinel out here. Now-” They reached into their pack of weapons and pulled out a large broad-sword, almost twice their size. “Let’s see ya weapon!”

Spinel backed against the wall, clutching her gem. The intruder tossed their fallen opponent onto the floor, welding the broad-sword in two hands, and slowly approached her. She held her gem tightly, trying to summon her weapon, but nothing was coming out. _I need to defend Steven!_ She thought to herself, trying to give herself more determination. _I need to defend everyone!_ She closed her eyes, trying to focus on summoning a weapon. The metal footsteps got a little too loud, as Spinel realized that the intruder was standing over her. _I need to defend myself._

“Nothing?” They said, disappointed by her. They sighed and put their weapon away. They crouched down to her level, as Spinel had curled up on the floor. “My opponents so far have been a book and a cyclops, yet they put up a better fight. Ya gotta have something.” She looked up, her head shaking in fear. 

The intruder stood up, took a step back, and started to ruffle through their deadly collection. Spinel stood up as well, confused by their actions. 

“Here ya go!” They said, throwing a weapon at her. Spinel flinched, before realizing that it landed in front of her. It was a pink rapier, with a dark-pink rose pattern on the hilt. “Use that.”

She hesitated, before grabbing the hilt and lifting the sword up. It was nimble and light, easy for her to lift above her head. She held it parallel to the ground, pointing it towards the intruder. As soon as she turned to face them, they had disappeared. 

“Ya not holding it right!” They said, using their metallic hand to fix Spinel’s posture. She jumped back in surprise, never taking her eyes off them. “Ya must stay low,” They moved into a proper fighting stance. “Keep ya legs wide!”

Spinel copied her enemy’s stance, keeping her body low. She still wasn’t sure why they were helping, but she didn’t care. Using her shape-shifting, she elongated her arm and trusted right at them. 

With almost impossible reflexes, they managed to jump onto her sword. In a flash, they ran down the length of her arm, before planting their knee into her face. She slid back, before lunging forward and trusting at her opponent. This time, she didn’t stretch her arm, only her legs. 

Once again, they seemed to move way faster than Spinel, so they just dodged backwards. They leaped forwards, readying a mighty swing, only to be deflected by Spinel’s rapier. A second swing was avoided by shape-shifting herself, flattening herself for a moment. The third swing landed on her jaw, knocking her into the wall. 

“Ya should get better,” They said, encouraging her. “I’ll give ya friend here a snack before I go.” 

Spinel looked up at her attacker, more confused than ever. “Why did you do this?” She asked, with an almost angry tone in her voice. “I don’t understand!”

“Listen up, Bub! Don’t think I was targeting ya, ya just so happened to be the nearest ship.” They explained, well they unwrapped their weapons and supplies. “It’s just what I do. See a Gem ship, beat everyone inside, steal their weapon. Lather, rinse, and repeat. None of ya seem to have any good weapons, but I still wanted to beat them. But y’all are novices.” 

They approach Steven, who wasn’t opening his eyes. A small sandwich was placed in his hands by the intruder. As soon as he noticed it, he started devouring it at a rapid rate. 

They held their hand out, helping Spinel onto her feet. “By the way, ya can keep the sword. Would love to fight ya later, on Earth.” 

Her eyes widened with surprise. “You’re going to Earth, as well?” 

“No, I’m from Earth,” They said, before they took off their helmet. Their skin had a light tan and their hair buzzed off, leaving a blackish-gold shadow. “I’m Speed King. Nice to beat ya!”


	12. Intermission: Parties Are For Losers

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Extra chapter for ya. Hope ya like it and ask me if you have questions.

Sodalite hated these gatherings. It was supposed to be a grand social event, for high-ranking members of Gem society only. Commanders, generals, and managers, Gems just under the Diamonds themselves in terms of standing. Still miles below the Diamonds in actual power, but still closer than any other. 

These events were the closest thing to the ballroom dances of the first Era, which hasn't happened for thousands of years. There wasn’t a single good reason for the Diamonds to celebrate, not after the passing of one of their own. During these gatherings, Jades would dance and Pearls would provide music. Every Emerald, Garnet, etc, had brought their own Pearl, as they were the personal servant class of Homeworld. 

Then there was Sodalite. She might have been the same high rank as everyone else, but since she had to work her way into this position, she was often mocked for her low beginnings. Sodalites were the scribes of Homeworld, tasked with writing whatever their Diamond wishes for. But Sodalite never had any hands to write with, having to really on Era 2 limb enhancers. Even after that, she wasn’t even a scribe. She was the manager of The Detention, which was considered a waste of time by other Gems. _Why try and fix the unfixable? Just shatter them like all the other failures._ It didn’t help that her gemstone was located on her tongue, which was considered the sign of a liar. To add insult to injury, two Gems had escaped under her jurisdiction, earning her further ridicule. Despite all these negative factors, she never let anyone get the better of her. But just in case something happens, she would stay away from the rest of the crowd. 

She spent her time looking out at the stars, enjoying the music. Her Pearl stood nearby, the only Pearl to not contributing to the calming atmosphere. This was due to the unfortunate placement of her gem, over were her mouth should be, preventing any form of speech. Sodalite couldn’t help but stare at her. Her skin was a light-gray, with a dark-gray bowl cut that wrapped around her head, covering her eyes from outside view. Her beautiful gray skirt and long gloves added to her image. None of that was the reason she liked her though, as most Gems would just consider her a Pearl with an unimpressive pallet. It’s just that they both shared something in common, an inability to communicate in a certain way. 

Sodalite’s smile vanished and her mood turned sore, seeing someone walking over to her. It was Hessonite, as skilled as she was arrogant. Decked out in a cape and afro, her body a gorgeous orange. Probably just here to laugh at her failure, no big deal.

“So, old limbless has done it again,” She said, her words heavy with smugness. “Heard you somehow managed to lose a delusional Sapphire and a tiny monster.” 

Sodalite kept her eyes off of her, just ignoring everything she was saying.

“If Yellow Diamond had-for example-put me in charge, you know I wouldn’t have messed up.” She boasted, putting her hand over her chest. 

_Just ignore her and she’ll go away!_ She thought to herself.

“I even think your Pearl would rather be with a Gem like me.” Sodalite turned and saw Hessonite holding her Pearl’s face, almost caressing her. Pearl was clearly uncomfortable, but refused to respond. Hessonite started talking to her directly. “What do you think? I’m loved by so many and I can show you things that you couldn’t imagine.”

Going from perfectly calm to absolutely livid, it took everything in her not to blast her into dust. Keeping her composure, she went over and pushed the two away from each other. 

A taunting laugh escaped from Hessonite. “What’s the matter?” She asked, looking down on the short four-armed freak. “Feeling inferior?” She held one of Sodalite’s floating fingers. “Are you feeling called-out because you compensate fo-” Her taunting was interrupted by the sudden lack of any sound coming from her mouth.

She stepped back, her footsteps completely silent, looking around the room. Sodalite looked over at her Pearl, seeing that her gem was now glowing. Now that Hessonite’s body was no longer making a sound, the sounds of the gathering became overwhelming. Every word, every footstep, every little giggle. She tried to yell at Sodalite, but nothing came out. 

Her Pearl tightly gripped Sodalite’s arm, shaking her head. Sodalite knew that it was time to leave. “Want to try the window this time?” She asked, getting a quick nod back. They ran over to the window, Sodalite activating her phasing so they could jump out. As they free-fell from the top of the tower, the glow from Pearl’s gem disappears and the sounds of agitated screaming could be heard above, much to their amusement.

As the speed picked up, Sodalite used her limb enhancers to create two propellers to slow their descent. Pearl gripped her arm tighter, calmed by the beautiful lights of Homeworld that contrasted the blackness of space. 

As they made a soft landing, Sodalite gave her partner a solemn look. “I’m sorry this didn’t work out, Cloudy.” She whispered to her. “I know you always wanted to go to a gathering, but everyone hates me and I attracted her attention and-“

Cloudy quickly silenced her, not by using her gem magic, but by hugging her. Sodalite blushed, before hugging her back. 

Their bodies were engulfed in a bright light; their forms combining into one being. This faded fast, leave the two of them on the ground. Both of them stood up, looking away from each other and blushing even harder. 

The awkward silence was broken by a buzz coming from Sodalite’s limb enhancer. It was an incoming call from an unknown sender. She hesitantly opened the call, having a holographic screen projected in front of her. A flinch went through her body when she saw the familiar purple phantom on the other end.

“Oh my stars, Charoite and Archive?”

“We need to talk.”


	13. Brainstorm

“Whoa, you’re from Earth?!” Steven asked in excitement. He was the only one near their violent guest. Ruby was upstairs, Spinel was practicing in a nearby room, Charoite was checking the engines for any damage. 

“Yep, I’m heading back there soon,” Speed explained, sitting across from him. His joyful expression changed, as he sorted through his bundle of weapons. “Hope ya don’t mind me asking, but what’s a human like ya doing with a bunch of stones?”

“No, I’m also a Gem,” He explained back, pulling his tank top down to show off his gemstone. “I think… Honestly, I’m not sure at this point.”

Speed stopped, all of his attention shifted to Steven. He stared at him, tilting his head in confusion. “Well ya look human and ya collapsed from hunger.” He put a hand on the kid’s shoulder, his heavy armor pressing down on Steven. “Maybe you’re so convinced of your human-ness, that your gem tried to mimic everything a human does.” 

Steven rubbed his chin, pondering the possibility. The silence in the room was deafening, until a minute later, when he finally spoke up. “Maybe.” Both of them stared down, trying to think. 

Their brainstorming was interrupted by the sudden appearance of Ruby, right next to them. She was wearing the outfit she wore before she was poofed by Speed. They were both extremely confused.

“Who’s that?” She impatiently asked.

“This is Speed King. He helps out in the future.”

“Got it,” She quickly dashed out of the room, leaving the two Earthlings dumbfounded by the encounter.

“Anyways, I went through a similar thing as ya,” Speed said, breaking the awkward silence. “I might look human, but no human could beat my speed. So, I settled on neither.”

It was Steven’s turn to tilt his head in confusion. “So… You’re not a Gem?”

“I don’t know… Honestly, I don’t care too much. I’m neither Gem nor man; I’m the Speed King, baby!” He jumped up and made a little air-guitar motion. Immediately after, he sat back down. “What can ya do, by the way?”

Steven stood up, struck a pose, and pulled his baton out of his gem. 

“Hurray, it’s a stick!” He said, almost disappointed.

Steven quickly stashed it away, clearly reading his mood. “I can also shoot lightning, but I haven’t done it on purpose.” 

Speed crossed his arms and slowly nodded. “Cool... Cool…” 

The sound of frustrated shouting ran through the ship. They both turned, seeing Spinel stomping down the hall and up the stairs. She was still clutching her rapier in her left hand. When she was out of sight, Speed turned to finish his bundling. 

“Despite their issues, they are still better than living with a foster family,” Steven admitted, once again catching Speed’s attention. 

“Not a fan?” 

He looked down at his right arm. “No, my foster family cared for three other kids. I was the least important.” He started gripping his arm, holding back the urge to cry. “I was the freak with a gem in his chest. I had severe exhaustion and I was very heavy. All because of this… gem stuck in me. Before I was kidnapped, I was actually planning on running away.” 

A large frown spread across Speed’s face, followed by a huge smile. “But now ya free! This is the kinda thing comics are made of.” He picked Steven up with one hand and hosted him onto his shoulder. “The poor orphan boy who was rocketed into space, discovering his alien origins!” He pressed a single finger onto Steven’s gem. “Ya really should thank it for getting ya out of there!”

He put both hands onto his gem. He shut his eyes and thought about how much freedom he now had. “Thanks.”

This moment of peace was interrupted by the sudden blasting of the alarm. Steven hopped down and ran up the stairs. Upon reaching the top, he saw that Speed was already up there. Everyone was crowding around the captain’s chair, all eyes on the display screen. The chilling sight of a Homeworld warship hanging over them, spelled impending doom.


	14. How Bad Can A Good Gem Get?

Ruby reformed, unsure of what happened earlier or where she was. First things first, she shifted into her preferred shape; changing her dress into her Ruby suit and her long hair into the square shape. To top it off, she summoned her dark goggles and placed them over her eye. 

Now that that was done, she took a moment to inspect her surroundings. A sigh escaped her; she knew exactly where she was. It was the same room she first met Steven. She was back in Detention. 

She fell onto her back, kicking back and relaxing. This time, she wasn’t going to let this place break her spirit. Several minutes passed, giving her time to think.  _ Where are the others? Did they escape? I hope they’re alright. _

Her consecration was broken by the appearance of a face on the far wall. She jumped up in shock, briefly letting out a scream. She quickly backed up, only to bash into the wall behind her. The face moved forward, followed by the rest of the body. Ruby recognized the dark blue Gem with long hair and four arms. 

“Oh great!”

“You crazy off colors  **love** making my life harder, don’t you,” Sodalite said, giving her a massive look of disapproval and crossing her arms. 

Without hesitation, Ruby summoned her pickaxe and pounced at Sodalite. She grabbed her head and slammed her onto the floor. Then she wrapped one arm around Sodalite’s neck, lifting her pickaxe high into the air; she was ready to swing it into her face. “I swear on the stars, if you hurt them I will-”

“Whoa, calm down,” She interrupted. Her attitude stayed calm, despite her current predicament. She gave her attacker a sung smile. “Your friends are fine. Steven, Charoite, and Archive; they are in my personal quarters. The Spinel is in a different cell and...” Sodalite paused, having a look of contempt on her face. “That…  **Nuisance** escaped.”

Ruby thought for a moment, trying to figure out who she was talking about. Then it hit her. “Oh, Speed King. How did he-”

“Funny story; we confiscated his weapons, but as soon as we tried to take his armor, he got all mad and busted through the wall.” She explained, fidgeting a little in an attempt to escape her chokehold. It was amazing to her, that a Gem half her size could be so much stronger than her, despite not even being made for combat. After awhile, Sodalite just phased through her attackers grip and stood upright. “I don’t plan on hurting any of you.”

“And I should believe you, why?” Ruby asked, her gem glowing with rage.

“If I wanted you shattered, why didn’t I just blast your ship into oblivion?” She asked back, pressing a single finger against Ruby’s gem. “I know that you can see the answer. Why don’t you tell me the answer?”

Ruby’s body went limp, her weapon falling out of her hand and disappearing. 

“Because you can still be useful to your Diamond,” They both said in unison. Sodalite gave Ruby a pat on the head, Ruby shuttering in contempt. 

Sodalite quickly turned and walked to the wall behind her. “Almost forgot, you have a visitor.” She said, before phasing through the solid wall. About a minute later, she stepped back in, only this time she brought someone with her. Ruby’s eye widened; she recognized the Gem she brought in. 

It was the Peridot with the gem on her neck, the one she had poofed on the ship during her escape. She had a new pair of limb enhancers for her arms and legs, painted a bright yellow. However, it was her hair caught Ruby’s attention. It was styled into a half-star shape, all in a lime green color. 

“She made several requests to see you,” Sodalite explained, pushing Peridot closer. She walked to the side of the room. “I’ll be over here, just to be sure you don’t try anything. Fighting back isn’t allowed during an interrogation.”

The green Gem walked up to Ruby, backing her up to the wall. With the limb enhancers, she was about twice as tall and stocked full of weapons. Something was wrong though. There wasn’t any anger or malice on her face. She looked lost and confused, unsure of herself. 

“Sorry for proofing you earlier,” Ruby apologized, speaking first. 

“I don’t want to hear an apology,” Peridot edmited. She turned to face Sodalite, giving her a quick glance. “And this isn’t an interrogation, I just wanted to talk.” She explained, talking to both Ruby and Sodalite. The deep-blue Gem rolled her eyes, realizing that this was a waste of time.

“I don’t know you...” Ruby stared downwards; she was extremely uncomfortable right now. “Why would you want to talk?”

Peridot placed one of her floating fingers into her mouth, biting down on it. Sweat started to form, as she looked away in embarrassment. “I... have a request...” She finally answered, her face close to blushing. “I want you to-and hear me out...” A brief pause interrupted her voice. 

“Spit it out, already!” Sodalite impatiently yelled, wanting her to finish up quickly. Better things were clearly waiting for her. 

“I want you to poof me again!” She quickly blurted out, her face breaking out in a full blush; her floating fingers quickly block her face. Ruby and Sodalite shared a look of pure confusion, even more uncomfortable than before. 

“One minute,” Sodalite plainly stated. She then proceeded to phase her head into the wall and scream uncontrollably, barely audible by the other two.

“I don’t...” Ruby had to pause, unable to comprehend what she heard. “Why would you want that?!” 

Peridot gripped her shoulder, looking away from the orange Gem in front of her. “I’ve always done what I’m supposed to do. I follow every rule, every order. Since I’ve been such a good and loyal Gem, I’ve never been poofed before.” She leaned in closer. “But when you poofed me, it felt like I was doing something wrong. It… It felt good to be bad. Doing something that any good Gem would have never experienced before.”

“Don’t you have destabilizers?” She asked, still confused by her role in this. “Can you do this yourself?”

Peridot shook her head. “I do, but…” A single lonely tear fell from her right eye. “I couldn’t do it. I didn’t have it in me to poof myself.” She turned around and fell to a kneeling position. “Which is why I wanted you to do it.”

Ruby sighed, pulling her pickaxe out once again. She swung it high into the, only to have her arms fall to her sides. She  **really** didn’t want to do this. Running to her front, she wound up another swing. Her hesitation kicked in when Peridot looked her in the eyes. To get this over with, Ruby closed her eye and stabbed the pick into her face. She kept on swinging until she heard her poof.

Her gem fell harmlessly to the ground, followed by her limb enhancers. Ruby scooped it up, holding it as she pondered.  _ Maybe it was better to take my anger out on her, as opposed to Sodalite. _ It was like a punching bag, except the punching bag asked to be punched.  _ Was this wrong? _ Ruby de-summoned her goggles, staring at the helpless Gem in her hand.  _ Oh my stars, why did I do that?! _ Now it was her turn to cry, but not before throwing her pickaxe in anger; not anger towards others, but anger at herself. She briefly turned to look at Sodalite. Still screaming.

A bright green light flashed from the fallen Gem, it slowly floating upward. Her body quickly formed, the light fading as she face-planted. She stood up, taking a moment to look at her new form. Her outfit had gone from a light green to a light yellow, with her midriff now bare. She was now only slightly taller than Ruby. Ruby wasn’t looking, she was clutching her face in sorrow. And Sodalite was still screaming.

Peridot turned to look at her limb enhancers. She reached out to pick them up, only to stop herself. Instead, she went over to Ruby and put her hand on her shoulder. 

“Do you get poofed a lot?” She asked, lifting Ruby’s chin up. Her single eye surprised Peridot, who had never seen anything like it before. “You’re a rebel, right? Does it feel good?” 

Ruby wiped her stream of tears, trying to think of something to say. “Freedom is the greatest feeling in the universe. It doesn’t matter how many times they try to break me. It doesn’t matter that they call me a Sapphire. All of that doesn’t matter, and it doesn’t matter to you either.”

“That sounds amazing,” She quietly said, giving her a small grin. “I don’t want the limb enhancers anymore.” She kicked the metal junk away. “I don’t want this job anymore.” She looked down at her hands, then back to Ruby. “I want to be bad.” In a sudden act, she hugged her tightly. “It feels good.” Ruby was at a loss for words, so she just hugged her back.

Sodalite, after getting that all out of her system, phased her head back into the room. What she saw left her eyes wide and her jaw agape. Only one Gem stood at the center of the room. She was about her height, with unnaturally long arms with two elbows. Her outfit had checkered pattern, one that alternated between yellow and orange. It left her arms and midriff naked. Her hair was tied into a star-shaped ponytail, green with streaks of orange running through it. She had three eyes; two on her face and one on her exposed stomach. Sodalite had no idea what to say.

This new Gem looked just as surprised as she was, as she took a moment to look at herself. Then she started to laugh uncontrollably, as if she had gone mad. Her joy was interrupted by a buzzing sound coming from Sodalite’s arm. It was an incoming call from one of her Topaz guards. Sodalite opened the call, but she didn’t open a finger screen for video feed.

“You’ve been in there for far too long! Is everything fine in there?!”

She looked to the new Gem, then back to her arm. “Everything is fine. Nothing new to report today.”


	15. Steven Does Not Exist

Her name was Chalcedony. She used to be a Ruby and a Peridot, but they had harmonized their projected forms into one being. In other words, she was a fusion. The Diamond outlawed any fusion between Gems of different types, seeing it as disgusting and deviant. Chalcedony was disgusting and deviant, but she was proud about it. She was the ultimate insult to the Diamonds; two Gems who wanted to be together and became entity of defiance. A fusion could be many things. A song, a conversation, an accident, an experience, a fight, an assault. But Chalcedony? She’s a revolution.

Sodalite brought fusion to her personal quarters, which only accessible through her phasing powers. She had to phase all the way from Ruby’s cell to the secret room, since she couldn’t let a filthy fusion wander around the halls. Having her grip to her arm well she phased, she could bring her with her. 

The room was dark as night, with only a single ceiling lamp hanging above. This created a circle of light in the center; tons of scrap and robotic components lying in the darkness. There were no security camera inside; no one knew that this room existed. 

Sodalite brought the fusion into ring of light. Sodalite’s Pearl was standing by, only the glow of her gem was visible, watching in the dark. Charoite was in the center, flipping through the pages of their book, not even noticing Sodalite’s reappearance.

Floating in a bubble high above the ground, Steven was trapped and unable to be heard. No matter how much he screamed and begged to be let out, no sound escaped from him. 

“Let him down from there,” Sodalite calmly demanded. She was ignored. “Archive! Can you  **please** release Steven?” 

Yellow eyes signified Archives arrival. “Steven does not exist.” They didn’t comply with her request.

“Did you just… Ignore my request?” Sodalite stepped forward, leaving Chalcedony to start wandering about. She stood above the purple phantom, her announce growing tenfold. “Cloudy!” She shouted, her Pearl jolting up. “Please un-mute him.”

Cloudy silently nodded, deactivating her powers and letting the boy be heard.

“How could you do this?! I trusted you!” He cried out, before he noticed that he could be heard. 

“I’m sorry, but we don’t trust any of you,” Archive explained, floating up to his level. “I have your file in my database. I know what you’ll do to us.” They reached out their hand, slowly caressing the bubble’s surface. Their eyes changed, Charoite slapping the bubble away. “You’re just like Sodalite! You’ll close me once I stop being useful!”

“Charoite! Stop this!” Sodalite pleaded, catching their attention. 

They quickly moved to face her head on. “Oh no you don’t! You said that I could be what I wanted, but just as long as I did what you told me to!” A purple mist started to flow from their body, coating the room in a layer of fog. “When you didn’t need me, you closed me! When Ruby didn’t need me, she closed me! How could she be any different?!” They pointed directly at Steven. Sodalite back up, pressured by their accusation. 

With a wave of their hand, the bubble popped and Steven fell to the floor. Charoite took their book and stormed off, creating an exit with their power. The exit vanished on their way out, followed by the fog clearing up. 

Steven sat up, concerned by their sudden exit. Sodalite rushed over to him, checking if he was okay. “What do you plan to do with us?” He asked, on the verge of tears. 

Sodalite looked to her side, biting her lip in discomfort. She sat down next to him. “Don’t worry, I won’t hurt anyone. I still plan on taking you to Earth, it’s just that your early escape ruined my plans.”

“Earth be a fun place, right?” Chalcedony asked, her peppy and loud voice out of place in the room. She stepped out of the darkness, giving Steven his first look at her.

“Who are you?” He asked, stepping closer to get a better look. 

“I was a clever lass that you should know, good old Ruby,” She explained, pointing to her gem. Steven was slightly freaked out by the eye on her belly, but he still understood a little. She pointed to the gem on her neck. “I was also a gal you met, the Peridot that Ruby stabbed.”

Steven was still confused. “Wait… Are you two Gems?”

“Right on!” She said, putting a hand to her chest out of pride. “I was born from fusion. Ruby wanted to be a better person. Peridot wanted to be a rebel. So they came together and  **boom** ! Chalcedony was born!”

“Fusion? Huh… Is that something all Gems can do?”

She knelt down to his high. “Yep! It’s against the rules, though. But that’s why they did it.” She gave Steven a poke on the nose, before jumping backing and laughing. 

“Does Ruby still want to go to Earth?” He asked, still unsure about what was going on. Chalcedony stopped and started pondering, putting a hand to her chin.

“Yeah sure why not!” She went over to Sodalite, who kept a stoic look on her face. “Just got to hitch a ride with her.” 

Sodalite sighed, shaking her head. “I guess I can take both of you.”

“And what about Spinel?” Steven asked, joining the others. 

“Yes yes, she can come as well. I’ll need for you all to wait until after the grand inspection. Then we can take a ship to Earth.”

“Grand inspection? What's that mean?” Chalcedony asked. 

“The grand inspection... Is when my Diamond personally visits,” Sodalite nervously explained. “I give her the current status, and she judges us on our performance.”

Something in Steven’s head clicked; he recalled something very important. “I know that the Diamonds are bad, but I only know about Pink Diamond. Which Diamond is coming here?” 

Sodalite paused, before properly answering him. 

“Yellow Diamond.”


	16. Spinel Vs. Jasper

Sodalite’s voice blared over the speakers, giving instructions for the grand inspection. All Gems were told to leave their cells and make their way to assembly room. Spinel followed the crowd, avoiding any attention from wandering eyes. During her time in Detention, she had done something terrible. Something that she couldn’t let anyone else see, especially Steven. Quartz guards lined the halls, making sure no one tried to run off. Spinel stayed low and just went with the crowd. 

Someone grabbed her by her hair, lifting her off the ground. “You don’t belong here, do you?” 

Spinel spun her head around to see. It was Jasper. Steven had mentioned that she tried to throw him out an airlock. She was a giant, bigger than any other soldier on board. She stood in the center of the hallway, until the crowd faded. She dragged Spinel down the empty hallways and into an empty cell room. 

“What’s such a perfectly cut Spinel doing in Detention?” She asked, releasing her grip on her. 

“I don’t know, it’s like I was kidnapped or something,” Spinel responded, her voice quiet and dry. 

“Clearly there has been a mistake,” Jasper explained, rapidly changing her tone of voice. She didn’t seem annoyed by Spinel’s sarcasm. “I’ll escort you to a transport and return you to your owner.” She moved to the door, dragging Spinel by her hand.

“No!” Spinel shouted, shrinking her arms to escape her grip. “No more waiting!” She pressed a figure to Jasper’s chest. “I’m taking a transport to Earth.” Her words rang through Jasper, causing her to shutter slightly. 

“What does that… Organic wasteland have that...” She paused, only to start chuckling to herself. Spinel stepped back, intimidated by her shift in tone. “Wait… You must be Pink’s...” A small chuckle changed into a full-blow laugh, before she quickly simmered down. “You want revenge? News flash, Rose Quartz was annihilated after the war.”

“And how do you know? Did you shatter her, yourself?” Spinel asked back, not believing her words for a second. Steven is a Gem and clearly he survived, so Jasper was clearly wrong. Jasper stared back at her, not saying a word. “If you won, why is Earth still there?!” Spinel yelled, waiting for an answer. 

“You don’t know what you’re-.”

“Must’ve failed to do anything, huh?” Spinel said, trying to get her out of the way, but Jasper wasn’t moving an inch. “Couldn’t do it yourself, so ya make sure no other Gem could!”

“ **NO!** ” Jasper shouted, slamming her fist into the door frame, creating a large indentation. Spinel jumped back, as the large Gem approached her. “You weren’t there when it happened! You didn’t fight in it! You were probably partying at Homeworld!” 

Spinel briefly inflated her right hand and pushed Jasper back. She slid out of the room and slammed into the wall. “You don’t know I went through!” Spinel placed her other hand onto her gem, and in a flash of light, pulled out her rapier. Her body fell to a low position, as Jasper stood up, laughing to herself.

“Not as perfect as I thought,” She mumbled to herself, as she summoned a bulky helmet on her head. She charged forward, slamming Spinel into the back wall and pinning her down. Acting quickly, Spinel pulled her head out of the way of a headbutt. 

Spinel shifted her body into a small shape, sliding under Jasper’s legs. She lunged forward, only able to clip her opponents hand. Before she had time to respond, Jasper planted her fist into her face. She flew out of the room, rebound like rubber off the hallway wall, before landing on her feet. 

“That didn’t hurt!” She taunted, causing Jasper to charge her again. With no time to dodge, Spinel swung her sword upwards, using two hands for extra leverage; deflecting Jasper’s next punch. 

Jasper responded by grabbing Spinel by the neck and dragging her against the wall, until they reached the engine room straight down the hallway. Spinel’s body was battered and bruised, and she could just barely hold her rapier.

“I’m Homeworld’s greatest soldier!” Jasper declared, bringing her opponents closer to her face. “You’re just Homeworld’s greatest clown!”

Barely keeping herself together, Spinel gave a little smirk. “If you’re Homeworld’s best, no wonder Rose killed her.” 

Jasper clenched her teeth, her body seething with rage. She readied one last punch onto Spinel’s gem, preparing to shatter her into dust. Something made her hesitate. Upon a closer look, she saw that her gem had a small scratch on it. 

Her hesitation gave Spinel time to attack, for she had embedded her foot into the wall when Jasper started dragging her, and her leg was still stretching out; so, she pulled her foot out. Her foot rocketed down the hall, before colliding into Jasper’s side. She slid back, accidentally dropping Spinel, before colliding with the ship engine. Her body left a massive indentation, completely sealing a large tube of fluid. 

Before Jasper could stand, Spinel wrapped her legs around Jasper’s arms. She repeatedly stabbed her in the chest, unable to pierce right through her. Jasper countered by head-butting her, knocking her rapier out of her hand. It landed across the room, so Spinel unwrapped herself and jumped backward. She stuck the landing, lifting her weapon up once again, as Jasper stood up.

_ This might take awhile. _


	17. Nothing Major Happens In This Chapter

The grand inspection was mere moments away. Sodalite stood alongside her two Topaz guards, waiting for the arrival of the glorious Yellow Diamond. Cloudy was standing to the side, with Steven hidden behind a pillar, just a few feet away from her. A muffled yelling radiated from Cloudy’s pearl, since Chalcedony was trapped inside her gem, just to make sure she didn’t start a riot.

All Steven had to do was keep his cool and stay hidden. Sodalite wanted him to stay in her room, but he insisted on watching. He wanted to see Yellow Diamond; see the one who waged war against the Earth. Ever since he heard their names, he imagined the Diamonds as giant monsters or terrible dictators, but wanted to know for sure. 

The loud echo of the transports arrival jolted his body upright; a massive door formed and subsequently opened itself. Out stepped Yellow Diamond, followed by the salutes of everyone else. She was odd looking, to say the least; way taller than any Gem he’d seen before. Tall hair, high heels, large shoulder pads, and a look of pure disinterest on her face; with her gem in her chest. She was followed by a much smaller Pearl, also yellow in color. Steven felt his heart go heavy, but he wasn’t quite sure why.

“Greetings, my Diamond!” Sodalite said, all her nervousness disappearing in an instant. 

“Kkkkkkzzzzzeeetttezzzddfezzzzz!” A sound radiated from the Diamond’s mouth, causing Steven to cover his ears. It was so loud, sounding more like TV static than human speech. 

“Apologies, my Diamond!” She responded, as if Yellow Diamond actually said something understandable. “I wouldn’t want to waste your time with these inspections.”

Yellow Diamond took a few steps forward, towering over Sodalite. “Zzzzzkkkkkkeeerrrrzzzzddddeezzzzzrrrrrzzzzzzkkkjcccceeerrrrzz!” 

“Yes yes, I am aware of that-” Sodalite paused, as she noticed a strange white confetti falling from the ceiling. It was covering the room; Yellow Diamond growing agitated by the second.

“Zzzzxxxkkkkkkeerrrrzzzz?!” 

Steven was the first to take a closer look at the ceiling. He saw… Something crawling around up there. It was Charoite, but something was clearly wrong.

Archive’s book fell to the ground, completely torn to shreds; the last page had their gemstone removed. Sodalite looked up, before being frozen in fear. 

Charoite flew down, their cloak opening up and revealing what was underneath. The inside of the cloak was lined with thousands of hands, constantly moving and wriggling about. Charoite’s body was completely skeletal; with a large skull, thin arms, and no legs. Their gemstone was fixed to where their chest would be. 

The hands of the cloak began to stretch out, completely wrapping around Yellow Diamond and quickly pulling her in. In just a few seconds, she was gone; dragged inside of Charoite. The hands turned their attention to the Yellow Pearl, dragging her in as well.

The Topaz guards charged them, fusing together and swinging a large battle axe at them. Charoite started to glow a radiant lavender, before summoning a gigantic blade and cutting her in two. The Topazes’ gems harmlessly fell in front of Sodalite, who was still completely paralyzed. 

Charoite’s eyes began to spin, turning into a spiral of yellow and purple. They floated above Sodalite, smiling maniacally. “ **It’s so great to have our power back.** ” They said, with two voices talking in unison.

“Wh-why are you d-”

They moved to be a few inches from her face. “ **You lied to everyone! You had us keep this charade going for thousands of years!** ” They held their blade high into the air. “ **You used us to gain personal power! Yellow Diamond hasn’t been on Homeworld!** ” A thin hand wrapped around Steven’s waist, pulling him out of hiding. “ **She’s right here!** ” 

The words shock him to his core. “Wh-what?!” He asked, confused by what they were saying. 

They turned to face him, staring him in the eyes. “ **Don’t play dumb with us!** ” A ghastly finger pulled his tank-top down, showing his gemstone off. It was in the same place as Yellow Diamond’s gem, same color, same shape; just not sticking out as much. “ **You have her gem! You have her powers! Even your hair is sticking up!** ” They brought their blade closer, Steven getting a closer look at it. It was a sword the size of a telephone pole. 

“You-you’re lying!” 

“ **No! We’ve been forced to lie for far too long!** ” They shouted, their voice echoing throughout the ship. “ **We know all about the Gems you’ve shattered, the planets you’ve annihilated, the things you’ve done for the sake of the Homeworld empire! You are the liar here!** ” Steven went limp, as if his brain had blue-screened. His eyes became hollow with fear. Charoite pulled their blade back, ready to cut him in half.

“Charoite! Enough!” Sodalite said, the phantom turning their attention back to her.

“ **Why do you care about her?!** ” They asked, holding their blade to her face. “ **You know what she’s done! You tried to kill her on Earth! What could have changed?!** ”

Sodalite took in a deep breath, before attempting to respond. “My relationship with Yellow Diamond has been complicated, to say the least, but it’s clear that Yellow has no memories of being a Diamond. I might have lied to her earlier, claiming that I didn’t know what kind of Gem she was. It’s clear that her personality has completely changed, so I didn’t want to overwhelm her with the truth. Somehow, during her time on Earth, she lost her memory and became convinced that she was a human.” Sodalite phased through the blade and got in Charoite’s face. “That’s why I’ve been helping her, because she’s  **not** her. I wish to take her to Earth, since that is her current home and I wish to know how this could’ve happened.” She placed a robotic hand on their cheek. “Now will stop playing this game, put Steven down, and yet us leave without a fight? Or do I have to repeat myself?”

Charoite floated back, before breaking out into a fit of laughter. “ **Game?!** ” They asked, barely able to speak through their laughter, until they simmered down. “ **You think this is a game?! We’ll show you the game we would love to play!** ” A mass of arms stretched out, hundreds of hands racing through the facility. Each arm wrapped around a Gem, until they had their hands on every Gem. Cloudy, Spinel, Jasper, the Quartz guards, and every off color on board. Even Sodalite, who couldn’t phase out of their grip. 

Darkness surrounded everyone, before turning into a bright blizzard of color. It finally ended with Charoite floating in the clouds above Earth, hold every single Gem tightly. No one had time to process what had happened, as Charoite began to dive-bomb. 

“ **We call this game, ‘Try not to shatter when you hit the Earth’s surface’!** ” They shouted, the wind overpowering their voice. 

Steven finally came to his senses, screaming as he was dragged down. He felt something bubbling within him, like there were butterflies in his stomach. He reached out his hand and grabbed the arm holding him. Yellow energy engulfed his body, spreading to every other Gem and causing them to break free. As the energy faded, they were launched from Charoite’s grip. His eye went pure white, as he destroyed the arms holding him and floating in front of the angered phantom. Without saying a word or showing a hint of hesitation, they brought their blade down.

_ *Swish* _

All energy faded, as he quickly fell to the ground. Before losing consciousness, he saw a blue light surrounding him, which slowed his descent.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> btw, I don't have a scheduled but I'm taking a quick break.


	18. Intermission: It’s A Nice Day To Start Again

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, I lied about taking a break.

It was a familiar feeling, slowly waking up after passing out. Steven has had exhaustion issues, but never to this extent. It felt like he had slept for years, but still felt tired upon waking. He was blinded by light, before his eye adjusted and looked around the room. 

He was laying in the backseat of a car, with a thin blanket draped over him. He saw someone in the driver seat, but his vision was still too blurry to see who it was. They noticed that he had awakened, turning to look at him. 

“Oh thank the stars, you’re moving!” It was Sodalite, but something was wrong. She was missing the limb enhancer on one of her right arms, revealing the stump underneath. “I was so worried!”

A river of memories washed over him; memories of everything that happened. It left him with one question he had to ask.

“Excuse me,” He said, barely able to speak in his exhausted state. “I… Need to ask you something.”

“What?” She asked, not taking her eyes off the road. 

“I’m Yellow Diamond, right?”

A sigh escaped her. “Well...” She paused for a second. “You do have her gem.”

Steven looked down, trying to avoid crying. He thought of all the terrible things he must’ve done, all the people he must’ve hurt. Made all the worse since he doesn’t remember anything.

“But you don’t seem to have any of her memories,” She continued, catching Steven’s attention. “I’m not sure if you lost your memories, or you never had her memories to begin with. But for right now, you are not responsible for the actions of Yellow Diamond.” She turned her head, giving him a quick smile back, before turning back to the road. 

“You used to work for me, I mean— her, right?” He asked. “What was she like?” Silence echoed throughout the car.

“She was the smartest and most rational of the Diamonds; in charge of Homeworld’s military.” Sodalite explained. “She was cold, rarely showing her emotions to anyone.” 

Steven sat up, pulling the blanket off of him. He noticed that Sodalite’s limb enhancer was attached to his right arm; it was modified to have non-floating fingers. The modification made it bulkier, but more human looking. He thought about moving it, and it moved. His awe turned to horror, as he quickly realized something more important. He couldn’t feel anything from the elbow down, right where the limb enhancer starts. 

His blood and breath went cold, as he turned to face Sodalite again.

“What happened?” He softly asked, his voice almost a whisper. 

“Charoite,” She bluntly answered. “Their war-blade caused permanent damage to your form.You haven’t poofed or regenerated yet.”

Steven spent the next few minutes moving his robotic arm around, trying to get used to it. After awhile, he tapped Sodalite on the shoulder. She didn’t even flinch when he did. 

“Last question. Um, where are we going?”

“First we’re going to fix your form, then we’re going to find everyone who crashed here,” She immediately responded. “I wish I could send you on your way and be done with this mess, I’m afraid I can’t do that. I just can’t Yellow Diamond wander around and do her own thing, even if you don’t have any memories.” She turned to face him, taking her eyes off the road. “Sorry, but a Diamond still needs to be supervised.”

“Tree!” Steven shouted, pointing out the front window. Sodalite swerved back onto the road, slamming Steven into the door; neither of them were wearing seatbelts. “Don’t take your eyes off the road! Have you ever been in a car before?!”

“No!” She shook her head.

Something else came to mind. “Wait… Is this your car?”

“No.”

It remained awkwardly silent for the rest of the car ride.


	19. A Steven's Guide To Earth

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a quick chapter for ya.  
> Love you all for reading.

“Steven, I’m afraid that we’ll have to abandon this vehicle,” Sodalite said, phasing her way through the car door. 

“What? Why?” He asked, jolting awake. 

“It broke,” She answered, opening the door for Steven and waiting for him to hop out. “We will need to get a new vehicle.” 

Steven stepped out, still feeling groggy. It was midnight and the only light was from street lights. The road was surrounded by grassy hills and scattered trees. 

“Let’s wait for a car to pass, and grab it for ourselves,” She explained, only to get a scolding look from Steven.

“Sodalite, you can’t just steal cars from people!” 

“Oh, do we need to trade for a car?” She asked, pulling out her finger screens and looking through her database. “Tell me, are chickens still the currency of Earth?”

Steven had no idea what she was talking about. “I don’t know what it was like on Homeworld, but on Earth you can't just take things from people.” 

Sodalite turned her finger screens off, giving Steven a curious look. “But you’re a Diamond. Why do you care so much about the laws of Earth?” 

“Because I’ve lived on Earth,” He explained, before taking a seat on the side of the road. “I know that stealing is wrong. I don’t care if I’m an evil space dictator, I don’t want to be a jerk.” 

Sodalite was shocked, giving out a quick chuckle. She took a seat next to Steven, the two of them sitting in the dew covered grass. “The only alternative is walking to the nearest warp pad.”

“Let's do that then!” He said, jumping up to his feet. “It’ll be a hiking trip!”

Sodalite just sighed and put her finger screens back up, showing a map of the immediate area. There was only one glowing dot, which signified the location of a warp pad. 

“Oh, the Wood Preserve!” She said in surprise. “It’s about a mile-or-so in that direction.” Her floating finger pointed towards a large forest. “I haven’t been there in such a long time.”

And with that, they journeyed on foot.

* * *

The forest was dark and foreboding, with the glow of Steven’s gem acting as the only source of light. Steven was exhausted, not helped by the surprising weight of his prosthetic. It wasn’t too heavy, but it did weigh him down a little. He felt like stopping.

“Can we camp out here for the night?” He asked, tapping Sodalite on the shoulder. “I’m tired.”

She pondered for a moment. “Hm… What’s camping?” 

“Well, it’s when you pitch a tent and sleep out in the woods for the night,” He explained, before moving to an open gap in the forest.

“A tent, huh? I can make a tent,” Sodalite quickly moved to a nearby tree, phasing into it and moving up its trunk. Her fingers flew around like busy bees, picking up different items with a strange blue light. She created a pile of leaves and sticks on the ground in front of Steven, before gracefully leaping out the top of the tree. Landing on her feet, she struck a tall pose. 

“I’ve seen humans build these before,” She said, quickly assembling the sticks into a skeleton for the tent. Moments later, she began to fuse the leaves together; creating a full tent in the span of two minutes. 

“That’s so cool!” Steven said, his eyes turning to stars in amazement. He quickly got under the overhang, laying down on his back.

Sodalite was worried. “Are you going to stop moving again?” She asked.

“Wait-You don’t know what sleep is?” He asked back.

“N-No,” Sodalite shyly answered.

“You know what a tent is, but not sleeping? You Gems must be tired every single day.”

“Well we are, but that’s not the point.” She laid down next to Steven, also on her back. “What is sleeping? Is it laying on the ground all night?”

“It’s a human thing. We lay down, close our eyes, and stay like that all night. Try it, it’s nice and relaxing.” Steven shut his eyes, instantly falling asleep. 

Sodalite followed his instructions. She was already laying down, so she closed her eyes and kept them shut. It didn’t feel any different at first, but after awhile, she started to drift off. Probably for the best, anyone would need to rest after all that’s happened.

* * *

This was the best day ever. All of Sodalite’s friends were here, all ready for the beach-side concert to start; Amber, Jet, Ivory, Pyrite, even Cloudy Pearl. They were also the only ones attending the concert, so it was a very small crowd.

Then she remembered. _Why are we in human clothes? I haven’t seen the other Cult of Color members in centuries._ _This can’t be real!_ She took a seat in the sand, looking at her arms. _I have hands!_

One of her hands was lifted up by Cloudy, who held it gently. A light blue blush filled Sodalite’s face. She held her hand back as the guitar began to play, the stage crackling with lighting, as Yellow Diamond stepped out to play. 

Sodalite woke up in shock. She had never seen that before.  _ Do all humans experience this when they sleep? _ Steven was still sound asleep, so she decided to just wait for morning.


	20. This Must Be The Place

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For five thousand years, I lay dormant!   
> But I have awakened.

A massive metallic dome sat deep within the woods, seen by very few. It was completely smooth, with an almost reflective quality. At the entrance stood Sodalite, typing away at the password protected door. Sitting on a log nearby was Steven, also known as Yellow Diamond. He was fiddling around with his prosthetic, making sure it could move in any direction. 

Sodalite couldn’t remember the password, since her mind was clouded by her vision. It was completely incomprehensible to her. She turned to face Steven. “I saw something while I was sleeping.” He lifted his head up. “Do you know what that could mean?”

“That’s just a dream,” He explained. “They’re just based on your own thoughts. I think… I don’t fully understand it myself.”

“Noted,” She said back, before slamming her head against the console. “Ughggggggurgle...” She was far too out of it to do this properly.

Steven gave her a quick tap on the back, getting her attention. “Why don’t you just phase us inside?”

Sodalite slammed her head again, before grabbing Steven’s arm and phasing through the door.

Steven took in his new surroundings. The Wood Preserve lived up to its name. Tall trees covered the grounds, each one placed the exact same distance apart. He could see the other side of the wall clearly. Each tree appeared to be lacking any leaves, with scorch marks lining the bark.

While Steven was staring, Sodalite was scanning the forest, looking for the warp pad. She detected that it was in the center; as well as detected two gems within the dome. Her scanner can’t pick herself up, and one of the two was Steven’s diamond, so clearly they had some company. Sodalite began brainstorming.  _ With a functional warp pad inside, there’s no reason any gem would stay here. Unless they wanted to stay and/or were told to stay.  _

“Steven. Stay right behind me.” She demanded.

“Alright...” He said, before pausing on the spot. There was this metallic scraping sound. Sodalite felt her non-existent heart drop.

“You know what, let’s just go.” 

Sodalite rushed ahead, with Steven following far behind; he was far slower. The scraping stopped, as footsteps approached Steven at incredible speed. He saw a pitch black figure grab Sodalite, tackling her out of sight. The figure pinned her to the ground with one hand. Steven got a better look from behind a tree. It must've been the gem Sodalite scanned. She was incredibly tall, about as tall as the trees around her. Her hold body was super lanky and thin. Combined with her completely black body, she almost looked like a long shadow. The gem appeared to be headless, with her neck ending in a sharp point. A flaming great ax was held in her offhand. 

With fast puppet-like motions, she lifted her ax high into preparing to bring it down. In the heat of the moment, Steven ran over and kicked her in the side. He didn’t consider that Sodalite could just phase through it. The gem swung the ax sideways, narrowly missing Steven’s head. He fell backwards, summoning his baton and holding it up. 

“Jet!” Sodalite suddenly called out, her eyes wide. The black gem became completely still, as Sodalite rose to her feet. “We are not your enemy. You know who I am.” After a short pause, the tall gem rapidly swung at her. Sodalite just phased through the barrage, not even flinching for a second. Steven took this opportunity to run for the warp pad, while Sodalite continued. “Where’s Amber? Are you mad because you lost her?” Jet crawled over to a nearby tree, chopping into it and having it fall on top of Sodalite; who just phased through it. She stepped out and brushed herself off. “Or you just hate me.”

“Hurry up!” Steven yelled, waiting on the warp pad. Sodalite phased under the earth, traveling underground to confuze Jet. As soon as she appeared on the warp pad, she immediately warped them somewhere else. After a few seconds, they appeared in a beach cave. A sigh escaped her, as Sodalite took a seat on the edge of the warp pad. 

Steven took a seat right next to her. “That gem, Jet. She was in the Cult of Color right? What happened?”

“She might think I abandoned her on Earth, since she was trapped within the Wood Preserve. I didn’t know of her ultimate fate when I was forced to leave.” Sodalite admitted. “I had to leave the whole cult on Earth, but I didn’t have a choice. After my… Encounter with Yellow Diamond, I had to head back to Homeworld before anyone realized she was gone.” She started to tear up a little. “Now I doubt anyone I’ve worked with would want my help.” 

Steven put his left hand on her shoulder. “I hope you don’t mind me asking, but what happened between you and me? I mean Yellow Diamond,” He asked.

“I’d rather not get into that,” She said, standing up again. “Let’s just get your arm fixed.”

Steven stood up as well, while staring at his prosthetic. “How are we going to do that?”

“By warping to Rose’s Fountain,” Sodalite explained, happy to change the subject. “Rose Quartz had special healing tears, but I’d rather not meet with her, so her healing fountain should fix you up.” As she was talking, her eyes were darting around the cave. “Wait...” She stepped towards a strange looking door. “Let’s warp somewhere else before someone-” Before she could finish, a purple whip wrapped around Steven and yanked him out of the cave. “Sees us...”


End file.
